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- Alkan Olsson, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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Critical Load : The politics of chemistry
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Critical Load was introduced as a environmental policy tool in the late 1980s in response to a need for exact and scientifically based measures to abate transboundary air pollution in the Convention onLong-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). The main objective in this study was to analyse the practical operationalisation of these limits. The study proceeded by analysing policy document treating the Critical Load concept produced by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEP A) It is showed that the concept is mainly operationalised through three scientific disciplines, chemistry, ecology and toxicology. Chemistry dominates and two things are forwarded as a reason. First, the political over all aim of Critical Load is based on the ideas that nature is robust within limits a perception, which is closely entangled with an idea that it is possible to calculate these limits. This favours chemical explanations, as chemistry is perceived as more calculable than for example ecology. Secondly, the Critical Load concept was initially used in connection to acidification, which primarily has been perceived a chemical problem. As ecological explanations in the material not are operationalised into precise limitsthe role of ecology is interpreted as a complement to the precise calculations provided by chemistry, taking into consideration the balance and the complexity of nature. Toxicological explanations on the other hand provide precise measurements and are therefore interpreted as an intermediary between ecology and chemistry. Thethree stories are therefore interpreted as versions on the same story,nature as robust within limits and calculable. The ecological and thetoxicological explanations are also interpreted as answers to a changein the perception of environmental problem to more complex and to achanging focus of polluting compounds in the CLRTAP.
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| 2. |
- Alkan Olsson, Johanna
(författare)
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The Critical Load concept : A milestone or milestone for future environmental policymaking?
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This article provides an analysis of the critique directed towards the Critical Load concept expressed in policy texts produced by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. The aim is to trace and discuss the character of this critique. A further aim is to discuss whether it is possible that this critique may gain a foothold in today's environmental policy, and what the result of such a development could be for the future use of the Critical Load as a basis of environmental policy-making. It is shown that the Critical Load concept faces a decreasing legitimacy as a policy tool, giving it an uncertain, but nevertheless possibly viable future. However,depending on how the possibilities of estimating limits in nature areinterpreted and used in practice, the concept may become either amilestone or a millstone.
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| 3. |
- Alkan Olsson, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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The Critical Load graph : A rhetorical trope
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- It is often said that pictures and graphical visualisations have a greatpower to unify and simplify ideas: "a picture says a thousand words" as thesaying goes. The ability of graphs to explore and summarise large sets ofnumbers is also well known (Tufte, 1983: introduction). Although scientistsfrequently have recourse to graphical illustrations when explaining complexproblems, the role of pictures and graphs in forwarding scientific findingshas received relatively little attention in studies of science compared to the attention given to texts. Ronald Giere and Michael Ruse have suggested thatthis lack of interest may be explained by the strong influence of logical empiricism in scientific culture (Giere, 1996; Ruse, 1996). Logical empiricism emerged in the eighteenth century in the transition between an oral-visualculture and a text-based culture, nurturing a suspicion towards pictures andarguing that human thinking relies on words. In this textual culture pictures are reduced to persuasive aids, if considered at all, being thought of as pedagogical tools or simple 'illustrations' used to facilitate the presentation and sharing of scientific findings (Stafford, 1994). Another reason why visual displays in science have been underestimated and neglected compared to scientific texts, may simply be, as suggested by David Lynch, that methods for analysing verbal materials are more advanced than thosefor analysing pictures (Lynch, 1990:151). (...)
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| 4. |
- Andersson, Ann-Christine, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluating a Breakthrough Series Collaborative in a Swedish healthcare context
- 2013
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since the mid-1990s, increased attention has been placed on quality improvement and patient safety within the healthcare context. This study aims to evaluate the use of the Breakthrough Series Collaborative methodology in a Swedish county council improvement program, comparing measurements at the beginning and after six months. A questionnaire was used, and improvement processes and outcomes were analysed. The results showed an overall large engagement in improvements, although the methodology and the facilitators were seen as only moderately supportive. Nursing educators have highlighted the importance of improvement education amongst healthcare professions, and nurses could play an active role in improving healthcare practices and patient safety.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Fräs Annika
(författare)
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Solid-phase microextraction for determination of background levels and point-source emissions of volatile sulfur compounds in the bioindustry
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The present study was conducted to develop a rapid, matrix-independent technique for simultaneous analysis of nine different volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in complex gas matrices.The potential of using solid-phase microextraction (SP:ME) in this context was investigated, and, to achieve the best sensitivity and avoid artifact formation and competitive adsorption, pel'formance ofthe following fiber coatings was tested: Carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (CARIPDMS),divinylbenzene/ polydimethyl-siloxane (DVBIPDMS), and Carboxen/divinylbenzene/polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/DVBIPDMS). The optimal injector temperature and desorption time for each fiber were dete1n1ined by experimental design. The samples analyzed were collected in Tedlar bags at a biogas facility and a sewage treatment plant to represent background levels and point-source emissions. The samples were subsequently dried over CaClz and preconcenti·ated bySPME, and the target compounds were analyzed by GC-MS. CARIPDMS induced the lowest level of artifact formation and initially also exhibited the broadest range of linear adsorption kinetics. Anextraction time of 2.5 min gave no matrix effects, despite the complexity of the samples, and the analytes were accurately quantified using extemal calibration curves below odor thresholds.Detection limits ranged from 0.008 (CS2) to 2.5 (H2S) ppbv, and the relative standard deviation was 4-16%.
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